Shanghai Stock Exchange interested in 40% stake deal in Pakistan Stock Exchange, a first of its kind deal from any Chinese bourse

Following the invites for bids, the Pakistan Stock Exchange has received interests and letters of intent from several leading international bourses including the Shanghai Stock Exchange for buying substantial shares, a bid which can make the deal the very first from a Chinese Stock Exchange.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange is on a look-out for investors interested in buying stakes in the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the unified national bourse of Pakistan. The Pakistan Stock Exchange invited Expressions of Interests from the probable investors back in July. Some key bourses jumped in. The time bracket was yet to lapse and Pakistan Stock Exchange had already received significant responses including that from the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The time bracket for sending the Expressions of Interests will end this month.

Nadeem Naqvi, the Managing Director of Pakistan Stock Exchange,told the Reutersover line that the Shangai Stock Exchange was looking to buy a stock of up to 40%. He further mentioned that as the deadline will close, results would be made public by next month.

Although Nadeem Naqvi didn’t comment on who were the other bidders but Ayyaz Afzal, former CEO of the Islamabad Stock Exchange and the current Director at the National Clearing Company of Pakistan,told The Nikkei Asian Review that in total two expressions were received. Along with the Chinese bourse, a bourse from the Middle East region was also interested in buying the stake.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange has been performing pretty well. The total Pakistan bourse’s market capitalization is about $77 billion and the capitalization accounts for a total of 558 listed companies. The Pakistan Stock Exchange was declared as an Emerging Market earlier this year. Research firms had indicated that the MCSI upgrade was to bring stability and growth to the Pakistan Stock Exchange. About $400 million in inflows into Pakistan’s stock market were being expected from the passive tracker funds alone. And it happened as well; soon after the reclassification, the Pakistan Stock Exchange made it to the Asia’s best performer.